How Many Passengers Were on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370?
The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is perhaps one of the biggest mysteries of the 21st century. According to History Channel, the flight left on 8th March 2014 and suddenly disappeared from the radar, never to be found again.
The flight took off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 12:41 a.m. At 1:07 a.m., air traffic controllers received the flight’s last automated position report. A few minutes later, at 1:19 a.m., the flight sent a voice transmission that turned out to be their final one. The message simply stated, “Good night Malaysian three seven zero.”
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was scheduled to land at Beijing Capital International Airport at 6:30 a.m. local time. However, when officials learned that the aircraft had not arrived in China, they announced that it was missing. Surprisingly, before its disappearance, there was nothing suspicious about the plane. There were zero distress signals or technical problems. Furthermore, the weather that day was good for air travel.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was carrying 239 passengers, including 12 crew members, during its disappearance. The passengers were from 14 nations, including Australia, France, China, the United States, Russia, etc. Also, a celebrated calligraphy group of 24 Chinese people were on this fateful flight.
In 2023, Netflix released a documentary about this tragic ordeal, titled MH370: The Plane That Disappeared. Its synopsis reads, “On March 8th, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared from radar. When the 239 people on board went missing, a global investigation into the greatest mystery of the modern age ensued. Despite official reports, countless theories, and tireless searches for evidence, one central question remained – What Are We Missing?”
Were the debris of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 ever found?
Following the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the pursuit of the aircraft became the most expensive search in the history of aviation. According to CBS News, SONAR, submarines, and other aircrafts were used to scout the South China Sea and the southern Indian Ocean.
Australia, Malaysia, and China helmed the underwater search operation, and a 46,000 square-mile area was thoroughly examined. In July 2015, officials discovered an airplane fragment on the shores of an island called Reunion. Gradually, they revealed it was a flaperon from MH370. Also, authorities discovered more debris on the East African coast. However, they could not find anything new after this, resulting in the suspension of all formal search efforts in 2017.
The agency responsible for the search released a statement that said, “Despite every effort using the best science available, cutting-edge technology, as well as modeling and advice from highly skilled professionals who are the best in their field, unfortunately, the search has not been able to locate the aircraft. Accordingly, the underwater search for MH370 has been suspended. The decision to suspend the underwater search has not been taken lightly nor without sadness.”
The decision to suspend the search faced severe backlash from family members of the flight’s passengers. Grace Nathan, a Malaysian whose mother was on the aircraft, said, “The whole series of events since the plane disappeared has been nothing but frustrating. It continues to be frustrating and we just hope they will continue to search. … They’ve already searched 120,000 square kilometers. What is another 25,000?”
In 2018, Ocean Infinity also searched for the plane. However, due to a lack of progress, the operation was halted.
